


ushijima crossing: new horizons

by deliveryservice



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gamer Ushijima, Gen, Ushijima Wakatoshi-centric, or rather acnh gamer ushijima, starts with ushijima and kenma playing acnh together and spirals to everyone playing, very self indulgent srrry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 15:55:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26560255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deliveryservice/pseuds/deliveryservice
Summary: In which Ushijima Wakatoshi has been playing Animal Crossing since Wild World, and both Shiratorizawa and literally everyone else who knows him is baffled to know that, yes, he plays New Horizons, and yes, he tends to his flowers religiously every single day.Or: Ushijima plays ACNH, discovers #stonks, and makes some new friends along the way.
Comments: 15
Kudos: 55





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> some notes: definitely assume the timeline's moved up for haikyuu bc i know acnh came out in 2020 :') and i also know this fic's several months too late and the acnh hype's died off but idc!!! this is my self indulgent hc fic and you'll have to pry it away from my cold dead hands!!!!!!!

Nobody notices when Ushijima comes to practice with slightly a better mood than his norm. To Ushijima, why they hadn’t realized is something he doesn’t understand: He’d arrived slightly later than usual — not late by any means, as he always arrived early at practice, but it was later than his usual attendances — with, what some would say, a spring in his steps. To others, it hadn’t been obvious because ‘a spring in his steps’ to Ushijima only meant he walked even faster, and it led to rumors swirling amidst the first-years of Shiratorizawa that their ace was in a Mood.

The thing, however, is that unlike Fukurodani’s infamous ace, Shiratorizawa’s ace doesn’t get moods. Ushijima is… Ushijima. He’s a no-nonsense, takes volleyball as seriously as he can type of guy; that’s why when the rumor spreads about Ushijima being in a bad mood (the first-years are avid gossips, and when there’s a piece surrounding the mysterious Ushijima Wakatoshi, things tend to spread faster than hellfire, the first one to actually _ask_ Ushijima himself is — surprisingly enough — a timid, hesitant Goshiki.

“Ushijima-senpai,” the first-year says, looking like he’d rather be serving an entire lap of dive balls than be the only one asking to see if there’s any sort of truth in the rumor mill, “Are you… okay?” Goshiki doesn’t flinch, but he does tense when Ushijima directs the full force of his attention on him, his gaze strong and unblinking.

“I am fine,” Ushijima says, voice monotonous. 

Goshiki nods; he hurries through the motions, and is already taking a step back by the time he actually formulates a response. “Good to know.”

It quells the rumors that Ushijima is annoyed, because while Ushijima is Ushijima, and Ushijima Wakatoshi is many things, he isn’t a liar. On the contrary, Ushijima has never been anything but upfront — and blunt — so while the story behind Ushijima’s odd mood remains a mystery, nobody thinks it’s because he’s agitated anymore.

Tendou is the one who gets to know _why_ later on that evening, after practice has wrapped up and everyone’s returned to their dorm rooms. 

At first, Ushijima thinks Tendou might not ask why Ushijima is cutting open a decently-sized package with a cutter he seldom uses (because Ushijima doesn’t order things online very often, if at all when it’s unnecessary), and is content looking over Ushijima’s shoulder with his mouth opened, a question written plainly in his eyes. Ushijima even contemplates saying something to fill the silence, just to answer Tendou’s silent question, but he doesn’t see the point in speaking up if Tendou hasn’t seen it fit to actually ask instead of just questioning in his head.

So Ushijima opens the package, putting the cutter back on his stationery stand when his Nintendo Switch Animal Crossing Edition’s box peeks out of the brown carton; he tugs the thing out with one hand, and the physical copy of his game clatters out as well, hitting his desk with a quiet thump. “Ah,” Ushijima says, as if that one syllable is able to convey all of the excitement that’s brewing in his chest like a swarm of common butterflies. (It doesn’t quite do the job, but Ushijima tried.)

“Animal Crossing?” Tendou picks up the case of the game and reads the cover, flipping the case around to read the little game summary at the back. “I didn’t think this was your thing, Wakatoshi-kun!” He doesn’t sound judging, just genuinely open and curious, putting the game back down without Ushijima even asking him to.

“I like the games,” Ushijima says, in lieu of an explanation. He remembers playing Wild World as a boy, and later New Leaf; while Ushijima hasn’t played in a while, having left his consoles back at his house and always forgetting to bring them back with him to Shiratorizawa, he can think back on the hours — _days_ , really — he’d spent playing the game, tending to his flowers, rather fondly. “It’s nice.”

Tendou appears considering for a moment, before that look is replaced with one of casual understanding, and he sounds a non-committal hum. “Why does that make sense?” he asks, more to himself than anything. Ushijima’s still ready to answer him, though; except before he manages to say something like ‘how’, Tendou pats Ushijima on the shoulder, and steps away from him to lie down on his bed. “You go ahead and play, I’m gonna take a nap before I finish my homework tonight.” Tendou groans, and when Ushijima opens his eyes again after a blink, the redhead’s already closed his eyes, snoring almost obnoxiously on purpose.

Ushijima blinks, but ignores Tendou’s snores easily enough. He’s had three years of practice, now, and plays out a random tune in his head as he carefully opens the box, uncovering layers of soft paper sheets to uncover the blue-and-green joycons that surround his switch. 

Contrary to popular belief, Ushijima Wakatoshi is gentle with his belongings. He’s aware of his strengths, and has learned firsthand, mostly when he was younger, that things are more breakable than they are durable; it’s why he takes out the switch with extreme care, nearly cradling it, and puts in the same amount of caution when he takes out the charging cable. He replaces his phone’s charger with the switch’s and plugs it in, a slow, rare smile curving on his lips as the console blinks awake.

He takes his time just pressing buttons and getting familiar with the console, feeling the joycons with a kind of caution that comes from having preordered something three months ago and thinking, _wow, this is actually real,_ once the item has actually arrived. That’s the only reason why it takes him so long to actually insert the game, and when the game boots up, Ushijima’s hands, big enough to nearly dwarf his console — and it isn’t even the lite — would’ve been shaking with excitement had he been anyone else. But he isn’t anyone else, he’s just Ushijima, so his hands are steady, even as a sort of joy he rarely feels swarms over his emotions.

It’s nice.

The game is nice, too, and Ushijima doesn’t even realize hours have passed since he started playing the game — his native fruit is a pear, his starting villagers are Cherry and Iggly, and he doesn’t think twice before naming his island Shiratorizawa (or at least, he’d intended it to be Shiratorizawa, but the character limit cuts it off to Shiratoriz) — until Tendou sounds an obvious cough; it breaks Ushijima out of his reverie, when he’d been busy trying to run away from a swarm of wasps, and the vibrations that wrack across his switch tells him that he needs to get some medicine once he gets back into the game. Just as soon as he finds out what Tendou wants.

“Yes?” Ushijima asks, putting his switch down.

Tendou stares at him for a long moment. “It’s almost 10pm.”

Ushijima glances up at the clock hanging on the wall. It is, in fact, almost 10pm. “Ah,” Ushijima says, and saves his game. Despite his enjoyment, he’s still Ushijima Wakatoshi, and that means he has _some_ semblance of self-control. He’ll play again tomorrow. “Thank you for letting me know.”

Tendou waves him off, the way he always does when Ushijima does something that Tendou says is too ‘stiff’, or formal, because they’re supposed to be best friends, and best friends shouldn’t act so stuffily around each other. At least, that’s what Tendou keeps saying, though Ushijima doesn’t know how he’s supposed to act otherwise, so he keeps at it, despite Tendou’s continued exasperation. 

“Is the game _that_ fun?” He asks, hanging his legs over the bed and swinging them back and forth. Ushijima doesn’t know how he manages to do that without getting his legs to touch the ground, because once Ushijima had tried, and he’d failed, rather spectacularly. Nobody was watching, though.

“It’s therapeutic,” Ushijima answers, because it is. Ushijima thinks, maybe, if Tendou hadn’t reminded him what time it was, he could’ve played the game for hours, losing himself in it the way Ushijima tends to in volleyball. “Do you want to try playing it tomorrow?” 

“No.” Tendou shakes his head. “I don’t think that game’s for me. I’m more of a horror games type of guy.”

Ushijima can see it. “Okay,” he says, and nods. He tucks his switch in the port, connects his charger to it as well — that’s enough for today. “Good night.”

“Good night,” Tendou yawns, and doesn’t finish the homework he’d talked about earlier, before he decides sleep is a better alternative than working his night away.

* * *

The following day, Ushijima discovers the existence of an app called Discord.

His discovery is made over breakfast — or rather, after breakfast, because Ushijima doesn’t go on his phone and eat at the same time (it’s impolite, he’d been taught) — and a search of the #acnh tag on Twitter takes him to several tweets of people inviting others to join something called a ‘server.’ The only server Ushijima knows about is a website server, because that is general knowledge, but something tells him they aren’t exactly talking about website servers specifically; although Ushijima is not a computer savvy, he’s fairly sure there’s no way to join a website server, rather than joining a website itself. He knows that much.

So Ushijima uses something else that he knows: Google, and searches up Discord. Apparently, it’s a messaging app, and Ushijima is confused, because he’s not sure how a server translates to something that can be opened on a messaging app. Still, the links he’d seen on his search intrigue him, so he gives it a shot. Downloads the app, makes a profile, and clicks on one of the links: It asks him whether he wants to join a server (the one he’d clicked was, apparently, the link to the main server for the game), and Ushijima presses the join button, waiting for the screen to show something.

When he sees _what_ exactly a server is firsthand, Ushijima is overwhelmed. There are _so many things_ on the screen, and the chat keeps going and going, messages sending nearly every second from more people than he can count on his hands; it reminds him of the Shiratorizawa group chat that he has on his phone, that he doesn’t _mute_ because he’s captain, but takes away a good chunk of his phone’s battery from the sheer amount of notifications it brings him through the day. Ushijima doesn’t understand what they’re talking about, because there are _so many things_ going on, but he barely hesitates before he types on his own message, and presses send.

He wonders if anybody will see, considering the flood that’s overtaking the channel.

**Ushijima**

I AM USHIJIMA WAKATOSHI.

As he’d expected, the message is drowned out quickly, though his eyes manage to catch someone in the chat asking how ‘isn’t that the name of that volleyball player?’ before the conversation (or rather, conversation _s_ ) take away from his introduction.

That’s fine. Ushijima can observe, and figure out how to use the app in the meantime. He isn’t bad at technology by any stretch, but there are too many things at once, and he doesn’t know where to start. Maybe he’ll ask in the Shiratorizawa group chat later; out of everyone, there _has_ to be someone who uses the app.

Seconds later, though, a notification appears that someone had messaged him privately. Curious, Ushijima opens the message, seeing it come from someone he’d seen sending several messages in the server, too.

**kodzuken**

are you ushijima wakatoshi from shiratorizawa?

**Ushijima**

YES. 

And then, after a moment of hesitation:

**Ushijima**

DO YOU PLAY VOLLEYBALL?

**kodzuken**

yeah

i’m kozume. kozume kenma from nekoma

Nekoma is a familiar name. Ushijima doesn’t think he’s ever played a practice match against Nekoma before, but the name of their team’s come up in a conversation about other good volleyball teams. He doesn’t recognize other players’ names, though. (Or at least, he doesn’t for the most part.)

**Ushijima**

I KNOW NEKOMA.

**kodzuken**

are you new to discord?

**Ushijima**

YES. I’M NOT SURE HOW THIS WORKS.

Kenma’s next reply takes him some time, nearly a minute compared to his previous messages that’d been sent only seconds after Ushijima’s response. 

**kodzuken**

it looks p complicated but it’s simple

do you need help navigating it?

**Ushijima**

THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL.

**kodzuken**

ok

i can show you through screenshare

**Ushijima**

WHAT IS THAT?

**kodzuken**

uh

i show you my screen while i explain things 

so you’ll know how to use the app

**Ushijima**

I WOULD LIKE THAT.

WOULD YOU NEED TO RECORD YOUR SCREEN WITH YOUR PHONE’S CAMERA?

And so begins one of the most unexpected friendships literally nobody ever saw coming.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm BACK (and i also now have a beta which is real neat)

Some facts about Ushijima Wakatoshi:

  1. Ushijima is tall—tall enough to be considered a behemoth amongst his peers;
  2. Ushijima’s grades are acceptable enough meaning he scores just barely above the cut-off grade, high enough it wouldn’t get in the way of volleyball but low enough it’s nothing impressive;
  3. Ushijima plans on going to college after high school with his abysmal grades, thanks to a growing collection of sport scholarships offers;
  4. Ushijima enjoys playing farming games when he isn’t practicing volleyball, and finally;
  5. Ushijima is having trouble finding some iron nuggets.



Dawn peers gray and silent into Ushijima’s windows, the vast darkness inking the sky fading into persimmon orange hues. Ushijima’s back creaks with protest, neck and shoulders stiff with disuse. The sound of Tendou’s snoring fills the room, drowning the water-wet sound coming from Ushijima’s Switch where his character stands by the expanse of the sea, right by the coast of the beach. As it is in real life, the game’s sky begins to light, black-and-blue fading into the green-and-blue that signifies in-game dawn.

Ushijima saves the game, and goes on his laptop. Discord is already opened, the tab containing his messages with Kenma sitting at the forefront of the screen. A mustard yellow waxing crescent covers the right lower half of Kenma’s icon. Ushijima blinks, because this means Kenma is still around, and the question of  _ why _ someone would still be up this early plagues his mind. Then again, he is also still up, so perhaps he shouldn’t be asking this.

**Ushijima** **  
** KENMA   
I NEED YOUR HELP.

**kodzuken**   
yeah?

**Ushijima**   
I CAN’T FIND 30 GOLD NUGGETS   
DO YOU HAVE ADVICE?

**kodzuken**   
use your nook mile tickets to go to other islands and farm from there   
you do have those, right?

**Ushijima**   
I DON’T THINK I HAVE ENOUGH   
SHOULD I GRIND?

**kodzuken**   
surprised you know what grinding is   
you can buy nmts

**Ushijima**   
WITH REAL MONEY?

**kodzuken**   
no, with bells. or items, some people would want to trade   
here’s the website

Attached to Kenma’s next message is a link to a website that, when Ushijima opens it on his browser, bears uncanny resemblance to usual online shopping websites. It makes the game feel  _ real _ , although Ushijima has yet to know if that’s good or bad—or maybe it just  _ is _ , and that is fine, too.

The childlike wonder fades the moment Ushijima sees the prices people are charging for one ticket (when converting from bells), and he has never exited a tab so quickly in his life.

**Ushijima**   
WHY ARE THESE PRICES SO STEEP.

**kodzuken**   
lol i thought you’d say that   
maybe you can try offering some services to get more bells?   
i know there are people that’d water or weed people’s islands for pay

That would be a good idea, if Ushijima didn’t see the point of charging for something he could be doing for free. Watering flowers is one of his favourite activities in the game;  _ tending _ his flowers is one of Ushijima’s favourite activities, full stop. 

“No,” Ushijima mutters.

**Ushijima**   
CAN I WATER PEOPLE’S FLOWERS FOR FREE?

**kodzuken**   
up to you i guess but i wouldn’t rec it   
don’t you need iron nuggets?

**Ushijima**   
YES   
BUT I DON’T SEE THE POINT IN CHARGING FOR WATERING FLOWERS.

**kodzuken**   
you’re a very different person from what i’d expected   
at least let them know it’s fine to give you tips…

Ushijima has never met Kenma before, the closest thing to it being a thirty-minute voice call with Kenma explaining how to use Discord to a green, confused Ushijima. It’s not a good way to gauge someone’s entire personality, and they have only been friends—acquaintances? Friends? Ushijima doesn’t have many of the latter, and finds it difficult to tell if they  _ are _ friends, but they are definitely not strangers anymore—for a little over three days, but Ushijima can hear Kenma’s weary sigh like he’s sitting right next to him instead of being at an entirely different prefecture.

**Ushijima**   
HOW DO I PUT UP A LISTING?

**kodzuken**   
…   
vc

By the end of the call, pearly sun rays filter through his windowpane, Tendou’s snoring has stopped as he yawns himself awake, and Ushijima still hasn’t slept at all. But it’s alright, because he’s put up his first listing (both on the site and, since Kenma had explained it’s possible to put listings on the server, on Discord as well), and the hope of receiving his first watering request feathers in his head.

The only reason why nobody asks Ushijima for the story behind his too-wide grin that resides on his lips all day is because, if Ushijima thinks he looks perfectly normal, only happier than usual, for everyone else the sight drives cold acid fear, and silent agreements on doing their best not to draw Ushijima’s attention to them that day are made, sneakily, behind his unsuspecting back. 

Tendou is included in this meeting, and all he does is laugh.

* * *

**Ushijima**   
I WILL WATER YOUR FLOWERS FOR FREE, AND I WILL BRING MY OWN WATERING CAN (TIPS IN THE FORM OF IRON NUGGETS WILL BE APPRECIATED, BUT UNNECESSARY). WILL BE FREE IN AROUND 10-11 HOURS FROM NOW. DM IF INTERESTED, THANK YOU. 

* * *

The first thing Ushijima does as soon as he’s showered after that day’s practice is to go on his phone and check his Discord messages—his notifications are off, because God knows his phone can only take so many from the Shiratorizawa group text—to see if he’d gotten any requests. To his delight, someone  _ had _ messaged him. It’s only one person, but it’s still  _ someone _ , and that alone is enough to set the smile on his face anew.

**irlmarshal**   
Can you water my garden? I’ll be free when you are, just DM me when you’re online and I can send you a Dodo

**Ushijima**   
CERTAINLY. I AM AVAILABLE NOW.

His trip goes as well as he’d imagined it to be; Ushijima tends the person’s garden the way he does with his, meticulously. Their island is overrun with flowers, pansies and roses strewn together across great green fields and patches of dirt, and it’s the closest thing Ushijima has felt to peace and tranquility. So absorbed he is in his task that he doesn’t even manage the creaking of the door and the pads of Tendou’s footsteps, doesn’t even flinch—or so much as feel—when Tendou props his chin on his shoulder, peering at Ushijima’s screen.

Ushijima does nearly jolt out of his skin when Tendou finally speaks, though.

“Is that your island?” Tendou asks, sounding entirely too innocent for someone who’d just snuck up on him and had, at the very least, taken five years off of his lifespan. “Woah, who’s that, Wakatoshi-kun? Did you make a new friend?” He points his index at the other person’s character, clad with the mohawk wig and the punk dress. It’s an interesting combination, and only gets more interesting once you consider how they’ve decided to deck out their island. Ushijima isn’t one to judge, though—especially not when he’s more preoccupied in brushing off his surprise, and is hastily typing on his screen to let the host know he’s very, very sorry for freezing in the middle of watering.

“You surprised me,” Ushijima says, stating the obvious. Tendou snickers because he’s a fiend. “I am watering their flowers.”

“Because you’re friends?”

“Because they responded to my advertisement.”

Tendou takes one, long moment to blink, likely trying to categorize and process that piece of information in his brain. “You… put up an advertisement to water someone’s flowers?”

“Kenma told me to,” he says, totally disregarding the fact that Kenma had technically only  _ advised _ him to. And he’d also advised Ushijima to charge in exchange for tending to flowers, which… isn’t at all what he’s doing. Is Ushijima still looking for iron nuggets? Yes, but watering plants on Animal Crossing is something that brings him enough peace of mind he doesn’t see the point of charging someone over it when the joy it brings to his psyche is enough of a repayment. 

“Who’s Kenma?” Tendou asks, deciding to sit down on his chair by his studying desk that’s diagonally adjacent to Ushijima’s. “Is that the guy with the mohawk?”

“Ah, no.” Ushijima shakes his head, but continues to water the rest of the stranger’s flowers; he’s gone through two watering cans already, and only has two more. As much as he enjoys this, Ushijima hopes they’re getting close to the end. “Kenma is from Nekoma.”

“ _ Hooo _ ?!” Tendou gasps, and invades enough of Ushijima’s personal space that Ushijima has to scoot his chair several centimeters away. “You know someone from Nekoma? Why haven’t you told me?”

Ushijima blinks. He’s confused why this is garnering such a reaction—it’s not like the thought of him meeting someone outside their school and getting acquainted with them is so  _ strange _ , is it? “You never asked.”

Tendou fakes a sob, that evolves into fake wailing. Forced tears poke and prickle the corners of his eyes, and he wipes them away with his sleeve. “You  _ wound _ me, Wakatoshi-kun. If you’re making new friends, tell me! I want to know! I feel like I’m a mother watching her son make new friends in kindergarten.”

Ushijima doesn’t know if he’s supposed to feel offended or confused.

Tendou laments some more on Ushijima ‘keeping secrets from him now’, and Ushijima tunes him out, finally finishing his watering request with one can left (it’s almost impressive) and a stack of iron nuggets he’d received as his tip. The moment he touches land back on Shiratoriz, Ushijima brings the stack to Tommy, who happily lets him know they’ve got enough materials for their store now.

He grins, but only for a moment; there are still things to be done, and at least five of those things include planting and decorating Shiratoriz’s blooming flower garden.

Ushijima gets to work.

* * *

“Are you playing a new game, Kenma?” Kuroo asks, like this tidbit of information isn’t obvious by now—Kenma’s not the best at replying to text messages, and that much is obvious to him by now, but the sloth-like speed (or lack thereof) it takes for him to respond nowadays is a tell-tale sign of the setter being immersed in a brand new video game. Kuroo knows this: He’s the leading Kenma Expert™ for however-many-years in a row.

Kenma looks up from his phone, and says, in a very monotonous voice that  _ oozes _ Kenma, “Huh? Yes.”

“What game is it?” Kuroo prods. It’s not like it’s a habit for them to play games together—Kuroo is into sports games, or simpler mobile ones that don’t require too much storage while Kenma can spend thousands of hours (not even an exaggeration) traversing fictional worlds in roleplay games—but sometimes, Kuroo likes to game with Kenma, too, if the game is one he can easily understand and doesn’t require too much dedication into it. While Kenma sees nothing wrong with almost wholly devoting his time to games, Kuroo does not have that same privilege with college applications and team captain duties constantly looming over him.

“Animal Crossing.”

“Oh! The new game? I’ve overheard some of the girls in my class talk about it,” Kuroo says. And then, whines: “Is it really so fun that you’ve been ignoring my texts? I need to talk about my Bill Nye rewatch to  _ someone _ .”

“Sorry,” Kenma says. He doesn’t sound very apologetic. “I’ve been helping someone figure out the game, too,” he mutters this bit and it’s nearly imperceptible, but Kuroo has  _ years _ ’ worth of experience on listening to Kenma and even hearing through his most dulcet tones. Kuroo’s ears perk, just like the spikes of his hair would if they could. 

“I’m not getting replaced, am I?” Kuroo teases. It’s nothing for him to worry about, because Kenma is Kenma and Kuroo is Kuroo and they will always be Kuroo and Kenma—best friends against the world, or at least against volleyball teams they’re matched up against—but it’s nice hearing about Kenma making new friends; Kuroo tries not to fret, tries not to mother-hen his best friend, but sometimes, it’s  _ hard _ .

“What do you mean?” 

“Forget it.” Kuroo waves him off, faking an affronted sniff that has absolutely no effect on Kenma whatsoever. “Who’s this mystery person?”

Kenma hesitates, and then: “Ushijima-san from Shiratorizawa.”

“... _ HUH?! _ ”

* * *

The next time Ushijima receives a message from Kenma, it’s an invite to join a server, and it’s enough to raise his curiosity.

**Ushijima**   
WHAT IS THIS?

**kodzuken**   
server invite   
my friend wants to play acnh w us   
just click join if you want

Ushijima joins the server, aptly and very succinctly titled ‘ACNH’; the moment he joins, he’s immediately greeted by a message that’s sent no longer than five seconds after the server announces his arrival.

**chem lord**   
the man, the myth, the legend

**Ushijima**   
EXCUSE ME?

**chem lord**   
nvm then :(

**kodzuken**   
chem lord is my friend, kuroo tetsurou   
he’s the captain of nekoma

**Ushijima**   
I HAVE HEARD OF YOU BEFORE   
I AM USHIJIMA WAKATOSHI.

**chem lord**   
figured as much, with your usn lolol   
so how do you play this game   
mine just arrived and idk what 2 do with it

**Ushijima**   
HAVE YOU THOUGHT OF AN ISLAND NAME?

**chem lord**   
nope!   
what’s urs

This, Ushijima types with no small amount of pride:

**Ushijima**   
SHIRATORIZ.

**chem lord**   
is that supposed to stand for Shiratorizawa?

**Ushijima**   
YES, BUT THERE WAS A CHARACTER LIMIT.

**chem lord**   
lololol kenma was right   
you’re pretty funny

Ushijima doesn’t see what was very funny about that, and he doesn’t understand either the memes Kuroo begins spamming into the chat alongside poorly-thought commentary and blurry pictures of his game taken from his phone as Kuroo begins playing, but then comes the realization that, maybe, Ushijima had made new friends.

The thought is a new one and foreign in his head, but it’s a pleasant one, and Ushijima lets the pleasant, warm feeling that sprouted upon the realization linger long after he has closed his game, closed his laptop, and laid his eyes to rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have a new twt!!! [pls follow me so we can talk haikyuu](https://twitter.com/genshinkaeya) (also has anyone played genshin impact)

**Author's Note:**

> next up: ushijima discovers stonks and the ac economy and the road to shiratoriz's 3-star island
> 
> i'm on [twt](https://twitter.com/jinorrah) if you wanna talk to me and see snippets of future chaps/fics! ty for reading!


End file.
